COEUR d'ALENE - After a long wait to get on the field Friday afternoon, Mother Nature made the North Idaho College softball team wait a little longer.

And then a bit more.

But once the Cardinals' Scenic West Athletic Conference home opener at Memorial Field against the Southern Idaho Golden Eagles started, the visitors began raining down runs.

Nikki Brailsford and Kylee Hogue hit back-to-back home runs in a 10-run second inning as the Golden Eagles beat the Cardinals 14-1 in five innings.

NIC had its four previously scheduled home SWAC series moved to Larson Playfield in Moses Lake after games were either rained or snowed out in Coeur d'Alene. Only a nonconference doubleheader against Big Bend in mid-March had been played at Memorial Field before Friday.

Friday's game, which was scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., was delayed five hours after rain turned the infield into a mud pit. Coaches and field crews spent nearly 10 hours getting the field ready for the game, with the second half of the doubleheader canceled.

"Anytime you've got a delay it's tough," NIC coach Don Don Williams said. "I expected them to come out hard and play tough."

NIC (18-33, 14-27 SWAC) got on the board in the second inning as shortstop Jessica Lupinacci hit an RBI double into the left-center gap.

"It's really nice to be home," Lupinacci said. "To actually sleep in my own bed was nice and not have to travel and have our fans here was great."

Lupinacci, a former Coeur d'Alene High standout, added that she'd been in a cold spell at the plate in recent weeks.

"I've been coming out of a slump," Lupinacci said. "So it felt really good to be hitting the ball well."

Former Lakeland High standout Alyana Watson hit a sacrifice fly in the second for CSI (37-14, 29-9) and scored two runs.

"When I saw her play in her senior year of high school, she was just kind of a sparkplug," CSI coach Nick Baumert said. "Whether getting hits or talking in the outfield or dugout, she always does a wonderful job for us."

Despite the delay, CSI was able to score all of its runs in the first three innings.

“It was something we talked about in our team meeting,” Baumert said. “We knew the weather might be an issue. We’ve got to give props to NIC, because they were out here working on it all day and we were at the hotel.”

Danielle Hockett pitched the final three innings for NIC, striking out two.

“Danielle had a solid performance for us coming in and shutting them down,” Williams said. “We definitely underperformed today. CSI is a good ball club and when you’re playing a team like that, you need to play your best ball — and obviously we didn’t do that tonight. They produced some runs and we didn’t.”

The teams conclude their weekend series with a doubleheader today at noon.

Southern Idaho 0(10)4 00 — 14 12 0

North Idaho 010 00 — 1 5 2

Game ended after 5 innings due to 10-run rule.

Nellie Makings and Averie Schroeder; Emily Perlich, Nicole Atkinson (2), Danielle Hockett (3) and Shelby Carter. W — Makings (10-3). L — Perlich (7-11).

HITS: CSI — Wilkinson 3, Watson, Brailsford, Hogue 2, Schroeder, Surrage 3, Stacey. NIC — B. Bishop, Moon, Wise, Lupinacci, Hockett. 2B — Surrage, Lupinacci. 3B — Wilkinson. HR — Brailsford, Hogue.